Metro: L'Enfant escalator brakes failed

By
Luke Rosiak

(This post will be updated)

A preliminary investigation into the escalator failure at L'Enfant Plaza Station followed last weekend's Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert rally, when the system broke a 19-year record for Saturday ridership, has determined that the escalator brakes failed, causing the unit to speed up and dumping the riders at the bottom.

The report, delivered this morning to the Metro board's safety committee, concludes that a safety sensor detected that the escalator was going down too fast and shut down the escalator motor.

Metro Deputy Chief of Rail Safety Robert Maniuszko said the unit involved, a Westinghouse Modular 100, had been running in the ascending position but the station manager reversed it and turned it to descending due to the crowding.

"There was very heavy loading on the escalators," he said. The escalator motors stopped due to an "overspeed fault," he said. When the escalator shut down the brakes were applied, but they failed.

After "the distinct sound of a metallic bang" the escalator accelerated for 18 seconds, causing riders to fall and form a pile up at the bottom. He said 16 people were injured, four were transported to area hospitals and one had serious injuries, including lacerations and possible internal injuries.

An inspection of the brakes showed that "one brake had oil on it" and "showed brake pad wear," he said.

Metro is examining records from when the escalator was last maintained, by Metro employees, in September. The unit was installed in 1977 and rehabbed in 2004, meaning it would not be due for another overhaul for 10 or 15 years.

David Lacosse (Manager of Escalators in Metro) needs to be fired immediately. Seriously. Now people's safety is endangered because of this incompetent idiot. WMATA, I know you have a strict policy against firing people, but please, for the love of god, FIRE DAVID LACOSSE. Or at the very least, give him a paid suspension (aka vacation) forever.

Let's face it. The system is being pushed to its limits by overcrowding and the resources available are being stressed to their limits due to this. Anything that crowded on a daily basis and much worse during events is going to have incidents because they can't keep up with everything and it spirals.

As to the question about whether people were on the escalator when it was reversed--no. I was walking down the adjacent escalator (halted and walk-down only), watching as the tech reversed the escalator, which was blocked off until it was running.

Am no engineer, but common sense tells me that Metro needs to have a policy for large crowds to either keep the escalator as a walk-down or to control the number of people allowed on when putting into service -- similar to carnival rides which need to be balanced. You would think after all these years they would have appropriate safety precautions in place.

Aren't they overhauled annually? I know that the escalators in the stations that I frequent seem to be out of service for overhaul on an annual basis. It usually goes much longer than scheduled, but the escalator mechanics when onsite, appear to be working hard. It looks like a big, ugly, job. Definitely not for a weekend hobbyist.

Metro's overall performance on October 30th was absolutely appalling. There was a ONE HOUR wait to buy fare cards at Shady Grove metro stop. At Tenleytown with a packed platform, numerous trains arrived at the station where NOT ONE person could board. My daughter rode the red line from Glenmont -- one person was able to squeeze on the car at Wheaton and that was it all the way downtown. While Saturday was an extraordinary event, Metro was COMPLETELY unprepared and even after several hours, could not begin to handle the demand. Not surprising I suppose for a system that runs 6 car trains 10 minutes apart during rush hour on the red line (just happened on Tuesday). But I'm glad to see the significant fare hike has kept service levels the same! What every senior manager at Metro should be required to do is actually RIDE the system every single day.

With appropriate credit to the Stewart/Colbert ditty-writing crew (for those who actually did get the chance, in person or online, to hear Saturday's festivities), an additional chorus as sung by WMATA:

'Cause we're the lamest transit system in the world,
The lamest transit system in the world.
From trains that crash to stairs that break to rampant thuggery...
(By riders and also fare-setters)
There's no one more incompetent than we!

Its way past time to remove all escalators that take people the equivalent of one floor up or down and replace them with fixed stairs. Safety would be increased and maintenance, repair and energy costs would be greatly reduced.
The saving could then be put towrds keeping the longer ones (Dupont, Rosslyn, etc) running.

Bravo wpost16! The escalators at Union Station, Metro Center, Gallery Place and other stations that move people the equivalent of one floor are chokepoints even when they are working. When they break down (frequently) they can be almost impassible. RIP THEM OUT! Replace them with stairs and apply the repair and maintenance resources to the longer escalators that can't be removed.

Um, have you seen some of those escalators? Some shoot straight up to the sky at what looks like a quarter mile high. As much as I like to take the stairs I don't want to see those turn into fixed stairs! But then, ridership would definitely decrease and the crowding problem would go away!

BethS - What on earth are you talking about? The escalator didn't have a problem because it was "unbalanced" (whatever that means on an escalator) or because it was overloaded. It was carrying the same load it carries every day at rush hour.

Bob-S I understand the brake failed. But that doesn't mean a large number of people suddenly using the escalator after it was just put back into service wasn't a factor. The crowd was indeed huge. People were being redirected (I among them) to that Metro entrance because the one closer to the mall was being used for "up only" traffic. In any event, the best policy would have been to make it walk-down only for that large of a crowd. And it's my understanding that the same place was "walk up" only earlier in the day.

I get off at L'Efant station everyday monday through friday. They have four escalators. Only 3 are running and one to go upstairs from the blue/orange line. Two are running from the yellow/green line. The one escalator towards your right has been broken for over a YEAR!

Metro is bidding for cheap labor to fix those escalators. Raising the prices on ridership and pocketing that money. By giving the Manager of CEO a hefty salary of $400k salary when they are injurying riders and making riders to opt to drive in and out Metro DC.

Wait until all federal workers start doing 4 days of teleworking. Than private sectors will copy what the federal workers are doing. Public Transportation screwed up big time!

David Lacosse (Manager of Escalators in Metro) needs to be fired immediately. Seriously. Now people's safety is endangered because of this incompetent idiot. WMATA, I know you have a strict policy against firing people, but please, for the love of god, FIRE DAVID LACOSSE. Or at the very least, give him a paid suspension (aka vacation) forever.

At about 8:15 this morning, the down escalator at Smithsonian (Independence Ave. entrance) suddenly and without warning shut down -- while someone was on it. Nobody was working on it, there were no maintenance people around, and it was not overloaded.

By this point it's become glaringly obvious that Metro's escalator system is inadequate and dangerous. Installing stairs alongside or in place of the escalators should be a priority.

Way back when the Redskins still played at RFK stadium we had just stepped off the overcrowded escalator onto the street when we heard screaming. We turned and looked back and the escalator had dumped everyone in a pile at the bottom. So this is not a new problem.

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